A Gold and Enamel Snuff Box, Les Frères Toussaint, Hanau, Circa 1785
Auction Closed
June 18, 05:01 PM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
oval, the lid applied with an enamel miniature representing a scene from Telemachus's adventures, in an engraved gold locket frame, surrounded by opaque cornflower blue enamel within dark blue and gold paillon borders, the sides and base similarly decorated, Hanau marks including maker's mark, 'Alaterre' rosette and date letter K, Hanau bird's head control mark for 19 ct gold,
Length 3 1/4 in.
8.3 cm
The crowned letter K and the rosette-shaped mark resembling the Paris petit charge mark for Julien Alaterre (1768-1774), next to a maker's mark composed of the initials LFT were used by the Hanau bijoutiers Les Frères Toussaint from circa 1773. The small shell mark in a place where the discharge mark would have been struck on Paris gold boxes indicates that the box is made of 18 carat gold, while the small bird’s head mark is found on Hanau objects of vertu in 19 carat gold (Lorenz Seelig, 'Eighteenth century Hanau gold boxes,' Silver Society of Canada Journal, 2015, vol. 18, p. 36). The date letter K on the present box and on many others is a reference to the date letter for 1773/1774 for gold boxes of Paris origin. As such, it is the second set of marks by this firm, indicating that the present lot was made after circa 1775 once these Hanau bijoutiers had realised which marks stood for the highest quality and most sought-after boxes at the time.
It was only a few years ago that the brothers Charles (1720-1790) and Pierre-Etienne Toussaint (1726-1803/1806) were discovered as eminent bijoutiers and gold box makers in Hanau, near Frankfurt, and as such connected to the major decorative arts fairs.